Seeing Physically & Spiritually
Fortifying the Foundations # 22
John 9[1]
12-7-03
Intro:
We don’t know this beggar’s name. Few people knew his name at the time of our story. But many had seen him as they approached the temple in Jerusalem. Pharisees had dropped him a coin or two as they went toward the place of worship. His was a familiar face in Jerusalem but few people took the time to learn his name or really get to know him. He was known by one predominant feature—blindness. That was something he had lived with all his life. It was interesting to discover that this is the only recorded case of Jesus’ dealing with congenital disease. That doesn’t mean there weren’t other that he healed. Remember John specifically told us there were many other miracles not recorded. But this is the only one recorded in scripture.[2]
I. Blind
We don’t see this man asking Jesus to heal him because in his heart he has no hope of seeing. He has reconciled himself to his blindness and spends his days asking for people’s help.
It is hard for me to imagine what it would be like to have been born blind. He has never seen the difference between royal blue and fire engine red. When I think of canary yellow I can see the color and envision the bird because I have seen both. But this man has never had the privilege.
As we watch the opening scene in the classic movie about Helen Keller called “The Miracle Worker”[3] allow yourself to consider this man’s plight before we consider his healing.
Play Opening Scene in The Miracle Worker (3 minutes)
This man has lived with his handicap for at least 20 or 30 years.[4] This Sabbath day seems like any other to him. He gets dressed and goes to his regular spot to ask for alms. But God has planned something marvelous for him. By the end of this day he will never be the same. His life will change completely. You do know that God has plans for you and me and for sinners who have not yet tasted of His goodness?
As he sits there Jesus and his disciples come walking toward him. He can’t see them but he hears them and hopes they will be generous to him. He extends his hand to receive what he can. But Jesus does not drop a coin in his hand and walk on. Jesus looks at him with “that look” that the disciples have seen before. Jesus is not just looking at him. He is looking deep inside him and seeing the pain he has suffered. This man does not know what the Father has in mind for him but Jesus does. Have you ever had Jesus look at you that way? He is always watching over us. But there are those kairos[5] moments in life when Jesus seems to pause (Bible says “As he went along...”) and focus all his attention on you. With eyes filled with love and compassion Jesus looked intensely at this man.
The disciples respond to Jesus’ focus on this man. How did this man get in this situation? He or his parents must have done something awful to deserve this. We hear their question, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” How did they know this man was born blind? It was common knowledge.[6] Why did they assume that his affliction was caused by some horrible sin? Because that kind of shallow theology was common in Judea at that time. The rabbis had developed a saying, “There is no death without sin and there is no suffering without iniquity.”[7] How did they arrive at that conclusion? Because there is an element of truth in it. Before sin entered the world through Adam’s disobedience there was no sickness, no sorrow, no death. As a broad statement all sickness is due to sin.[8] There are also instances where sickness and tragedy are a direct consequence of sin. When the earth opened and swallowed Korah in Numbers 16 that tragedy was directly brought on by his rebellion. When leprosy struck Uzziah in 2Chronicles 26 it was because of his sin. When Ananias and Sapharah suddenly dropped dead their demise was directly linked to their sin. Person sin can bring terrible consequences.
But just because something is sometimes true does not mean it is always true. Job’s friends assumed his sickness was caused by some personal sin. It was not! And in the end God vindicated Job. I would be extremely cautious about judging someone’s sickness or sorrow the way Job’s friends did or the way these disciples are doing.
Jesus’ answer could have involved a long theological discussion about generational iniquities. There is a lot he could have said about the danger of judging others. But he simply says, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. But this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” What work? The work Jesus is about to do in healing him. I do not think that it was for the glory of God that this man was blind. But his healing is what is manifesting the glory of God.[9]
I think I hear Jesus moving his disciples away from a judgmental attitude toward a heart of compassion and cooperation with the redemptive works of God. I think I hear Jesus saying, “Your job is not to judge whether this man deserves this or not. Your job is to be touched by his pain and bring healing into his life.” Here is a demonstration of what Jesus will later say in John 12:47 “For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.”
NIV And as we follow him we must always remember the same purpose for our lives. We are not sent by God to judge the world but to be instruments of God’s salvation in their lives. The more that principle prevails in our hearts the more effective our evangelism will be.
In verses 4 & 5 of our text Jesus links the work he is about to do in healing this man with the bold statement he made in John 7:12 “I am the Light of the world.” This man has lived in darkness all his life but Jesus is about to open his eyes and give him light—both natural light and spiritual light. This incident in John 9 took place only a short time after the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7—maybe a week, maybe a few weeks, but shortly after the Feast.[10]
Hear the urgency in Jesus’ voice, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.” We don’t have time to theorize as to why this man is blind. Why don’t we just get on with his healing instead? “We must do the work...” Do you feel that divine “must”[11] in your heart? Isn’t life short and the work of the harvest urgent? You and I are also a part of that “we”[12]. We as co laborers with Christ must be about our Father’s business. We too must do the work He has called us to do.
II. Healed
The manner of this man’s healing is quite interesting. No doubt Jesus could have just spoken the words and brought healing to his life. But that was not the Father’s plan in this situation and Jesus would simply do what He saw the Father doing.
First he spits on the ground. I can see the disciples looking at each other and thinking, “What in the world?” This is not the way the rabbis do it. This is not even culturally sensitive. It is certainly not seeker sensitive. But the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.[13] God simply refuses to be bound by man’s opinion of things. Actually in that culture spit was regarded by some to have a medical value for the eyes.[14] But I doubt many people went around making mud from their spit and rubbing on blind people’s eyes.
We have such a tendency to get focused on how things are done rather on the fact that they get done. I don’t care if you lead people to the Lord through street evangelism. life style evangelism, direct confrontation, indirect persuasion, or whatever other method may become popular. But by some means win some[15]. If we’re not careful we’ll spend all our time talking about how we’re going to do it rather than doing it. Just do it! Jesus said “Go and make disciples” and if we start we will learn as we go.
If you follow the dialogue in this chapter with the Pharisees you will find them asking over and over, how this miracle came about. They refuse to be moved by the obvious fact that it has happened. They are hung up on the method. And I’m sure that is largely because they were trying to build a case against Jesus. But rather than criticized the way other people do it, let’s just do it. And let me let you in on a little secret. When you get on with it somebody will criticize the way you do it. Don’t let that stop you. Learn as you go but keep going to those in need and healing those who are oppressed by the devil.
I’m glad this man was not offended by the Lord’s method in his life. You don’t see him pushing Jesus away saying, “What do you think you’re going to do with that spit and dirt?” Desperation can be an advantage at times in our response to God. Have you ever been so desperate for God’s help that you didn’t care how He did it; you just needed Him to do it? This man knew he was not about to heal himself of his blindness. He was open to whatever the Lord wanted to do. And we are sometimes tested by God’s ways. Sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we thought He would. Then we are faced with a decision. Will I receive God’s healing, God’s help, on His terms or will I hold out and insist that He do it my way? I have to confess to you, there have been some times when I was pretty upset with God because He didn’t answer my prayers the way I thought He should. Does not He tell us in Isaiah 55:8, “My ways are not your ways.” We shouldn’t be surprised when He comes up with something we haven’t thought of.
What an example of receptivity to the Lord’s ways we have in this blind man. We do not know why Jesus spit on the ground and made some mud and put it on his eyes except to say--that was surely the way the Father told him to do it and he obeyed.
Now here is a tense moment. Imagine that you have just done something as radical as rubbing that spit and dirt in the man’s eyes. Everyone is watching the unusual incident. Then the man opens his eyes and says, “I am healed. I can see.” No, that’s not what happened. At that point all the man has is muddy eyes. He still can’t see anything. The disciples look at each other. People in the crowd are bewildered. Perhaps the man is tempted to sit back down humiliated by the whole incident. But Jesus gives him a command, “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam.”
I think it took some faith for that man to obey Jesus’ command. Wouldn’t he look silly if he went to the Pool and washed out the mud and returned blind? He would feel like a patsy that’s been had. Two things inside him carried him to that pool. One was desperation—he really had little to lose. He had been humiliated for years begging for alms. Second, there was something about Jesus’ words that stirred faith in his heart. No man ever spoke the way this man does[16]. There is both authority and tenderness in Jesus’ voice and the man obeys. I will not pause to contrast this man’s unquestioning obedience to Naaman’s initial prideful response to a similar command from Elisha in 2Kings 5. This blind man simply did what Jesus told him to do. Do you need a healing from the Lord? Do you need some other kind of help? Here is advice that will always work. Do whatever He tells you to do and leave the results with Him.
When did this man receive his sight? When he had fully obeyed what Jesus told him to do. This man’s healing was not initiated by him. We do not hear him crying out to Jesus like blind Bartimaeus, “Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me. Jesus, Son of David have mercy on me.” (Mk 10) Jesus approached him without the man exercising any faith. But Jesus does have him exercise faith. It took faith to go and wash the mud from his eyes. But that act of obedient faith brought him into the healing God had for him. It is important to do what he says to do in those situations.
III. Witness
This man comes back to the neighborhood seeing and singing. He was blowing everybody’s mind. Some of his friends were saying, “This can’t be him. This must just be somebody that looks just like him.” He told them, “No, it’s really me.” What an opportunity to witness. They wanted to know all about how it had happened and he told them about Jesus. John 9:11 “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."
NIV
Can’t you just see his friends? “Wow, where is this Jesus?” That’s when it hit him, “I don’t know.” I think at that point a deep longing rose up in his heart to find Jesus and thank him. But he had no idea where he was. His friends said, “We can’t keep this to ourselves. Let’s go tell the pastor—the priests—the spiritual leaders. They will be so excited.” But we know from the text they were not excited. Sometimes the people that ought to be excited about our experiences in the Lord aren’t. I’m not going to take time this morning to deal with these false shepherds—these Pharisee’s rotten attitude. We have seen their animosity toward Jesus grow since the beginning of John’s gospel.
But I do want us to see how faithful and wise this man is in his testimony of Jesus. Very often a new convert is immediately afforded significant opportunities to witness right after meeting Jesus. In our minds we think we have to take them through seminars on evangelism. But God usually just anoints them to tell others what they have experienced.
Seminars on evangelism are good but usually when people finish the seminar they just go back to doing what they were doing before and not evangelizing. Evangelism is mostly about simply doing it!
When the Pharisees ask him how he got healed he tells them the same simple story. But listen to the Pharisees’ response. John 9:16 “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” Some of the Pharisees disagreed and a big argument broke out. Finally, one of them turned to the man who had been healed and asked him point blank, John 9:17, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” With great conviction he replied, “He is a prophet.”
There is a beautiful progression in this man’s revelation of Jesus.[17] First he simply refers to him as “The man they call Jesus...” But here he embraces him as a prophet.
The Pharisees called this man’s parents trying to find some flaw in the story. The parents answered their questions. But, they were intimidated by these religious leaders. Word had gotten around that anybody who confessed Jesus as the Messiah would be excommunicated.[18]
Excommunication was a terrible thing for a Jew to bear. In its harshest form it cut people off from their worship, their friends and families.[19] It was a terrible reproach to bear. So these parents were careful to avoid being viewed as a disciple of Jesus and being excommunicated. All they confirmed was that this was their son and that he had been blind from birth.
That’s when they called the man who had been healed back in and basically asked him the same questions again—trying to trip him up like a lawyer would in a cross examination. Their opening statement to him: “Give God the glory we know this man is a sinner.” I’m sure that gave him a pretty good idea of how open they were to the truth.
The phrase, “Give God the glory”, was probably an accepted way of calling him to an oath of truthfulness.[20]
This man’s answer is a good example to follow when we are witnessing to others—especially to skeptics. He simply told them what he knew by personal experience and didn’t go beyond what he knew. His statement in verse 25 is a good answer to theological jargon. “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know.[21] One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see.” Someone has wisely said, “A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.”[22] These guys could have torn him up in a theological debate. But they had no answer for his simple, honest testimony. They eventually get so frustrated they resort to name calling insults. Tragically, this man’s faithful, honest testimony of what Jesus had done for him got him thrown out of the synagogue—excommunicated.
IV. Worshipper
There he is alone and rejected by man. I love what John tells us in verse 35, “Jesus heard they had thrown him out, and when he found him...” My experience has been like that. Whenever I have been faithful and people take it wrong and I get rejected—somehow Jesus hears about it and he finds me. Rejected by man but accepted by God isn’t a bad place to be. Accepted by man but rejected by God is a bad place to be. Young people don’t sell God out just to be accepted by friends. Adults, be true to your Savior at work even if it costs you a promotion.
This man has consistently been true to the light he has. And as he is faithful to what he knows God keeps giving him more. [23] As I mentioned earlier, he begins by referring to Jesus as “The man they call Jesus...” Then he progresses to acknowledging Jesus as a prophet. Then in his debate with the Pharisees he refuses to bow to their intimidation and takes a stand that Jesus is “from God.” That got him excommunicated.
Now Jesus approaches him with this question, “Do you believe in the son of man[24]?”
Here is an opportunity to go deeper in his commitment to God. His response is a responsible, thoughtful response. “Who is he, sir? Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
That is when Jesus brought him into full saving faith. That is when Jesus revealed himself clearly as the Messiah. And that is when this man immediately embraced that truth and fell at Jesus feet in worship[25]. Notice carefully that Jesus received worship from this man because Jesus is divine. The Bible clearly teaches that mere man or angel is not to receive worship. But God the Son is right in doing so.
What a beautiful picture we have of the last time we see this man in scripture. There he is worshipping Jesus. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful way to be remembered? Go back with me in closing to that first moment this man received his sight.
Can you imagine what it must have felt like the moment that man opened his eyes after washing in the Pool of Siloam?
Suddenly before him was crystal clear water. The sky over his head was bright blue. He looked at his own hands for the first time in his life. Imagine seeing the green grass under his feet and the tree limbs swaying in the breeze. What a moment he must have experienced the day Jesus brought healing to his life.
Miss Anne was not able to give Helen Keller her sight. But she was able to lead her into an understanding of the world around her that she had never experienced before. As you watch the closing moments in the movie we began earlier, The Miracle Worker, think about how marvelous that moment must have been for this man healed of his blindness in
John 9. Think about the gratitude and love he must have felt toward the Lord as he considered the marvelous thing Jesus had done for him.
Show last scene (W-A-T-E-R) of The Miracle Worker to end (8 minutes).
Conclusion
I think the love and gratitude Helen Keller felt for Miss Anne gives us some sense of what this man must have felt toward Jesus who had completely transformed his life. The spiritual blindness we were all born with cuts us off from the spiritual world of God’s kingdom. “Except a man be born again he can not see the kingdom of God.” Do you see the realm of spiritual reality? Can you communicate with the heavenly Father? If not, it is available to you through the cross of Jesus Christ. He approaches you just as he did this blind man in our text—to meet your need just as He met his. If you have already experience the miracle of spiritual sight, then surely this day you are filled with love and gratitude toward the One who made that all possible.
Pray
Text
John 9:1-10:1
9:1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
6 Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7 "Go," he told him, "wash in the Pool of Siloam" (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
8 His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, "Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?" 9 Some claimed that he was.
Others said, "No, he only looks like him."
But he himself insisted, "I am the man."
10 "How then were your eyes opened?" they demanded.
11 He replied, "The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see."
12 "Where is this man?" they asked him.
"I don’t know," he said.
13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. 14 Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. 15 Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. "He put mud on my eyes," the man replied, "and I washed, and now I see."
16 Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath."
But others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were divided.
17 Finally they turned again to the blind man, "What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened."
The man replied, "He is a prophet."
18 The Jews still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. 19 "Is this your son?" they asked. "Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?"
20 "We know he is our son," the parents answered, "and we know he was born blind. 21 But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself." 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for already the Jews had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ would be put out of the synagogue. 23 That was why his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."
24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. "Give glory to God," they said. "We know this man is a sinner."
25 He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"
26 Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"
27 He answered, "I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?"
28 Then they hurled insults at him and said, "You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from."
30 The man answered, "Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. 32 Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."
34 To this they replied, "You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!" And they threw him out.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
36 "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him."
37 Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you."
38 Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?"
41 Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. (from New International Version)
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
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[1] Text read earlier in the service is provided at the end of this manuscript
[2] G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According to John (Los Angeles: Revell Co.) p. 163. Leon Morris (p. 345-346) points out that there were no accounts of the blind being healed in the Old Testament which makes this kind of miracle particularly Messianic (Isa. 29:18; 35:5; 42:6-7)
[3] MGM 1962 Playfilm Productions, Inc.
[4] John 9:21
[5] Greek word for time that often means opportune or seasonable time (Thayer Greek Lexicon)
[6] John 9:1 would seem to indicate so.
[7] Leon Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2000) p 346-347. One Rabbi held that “he who looks even at a woman’s heel will beget degenerate children.” The question raised in Luke 13:1-5 carries similar issues.
[8] Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Volume II (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984) p 179
[9] G. Campbell Morgan, p165. Campbell even questions the punctuation and would translate the verse as follows. “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents. But that the works of God should be made manifest in him, we must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day.” Also see Leon Morris, p. 348.
[10] Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Volume II (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984) pp. 177,180
[11] Morris, p 349
[12] Some manuscripts used “I” but the evidence of the older manuscripts support “we”.
[13] 1Corinthians 1:18
[14] Edersheim, p. 180
[15] 1Corinthians 9:22
[16] John 7:46
[17] Morris, p. 357
[18] Kyle Yates, Preaching from John’s Gospel (Nashville, TN: Broadman, 1964) p. 96. Yates says, “By the year A.D. 100 the Christian Jew was so despised that he was automatically excommunicated.”
[19] Alfred Edersheim’s discussion of excommunication in Book II p. 183 is quite interesting but beyond the scope of this message.
[20] Pink, p. 87
[21] Edersheim (p. 185) renders it, “If He is a sinner, I know not.” Also see Pink p. 88
[22] Source Unknown
[23] Arthur Pink, Exposition of the Gospel of John, Vol. II (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975) p.75
[24] The textual issue of whether John wrote “Son of Man” or “Son of God” seems to be of little consequence since the context so strongly indicated He is referring to Himself as Messiah.
[25] Edersheim points out (p. 187) the word used for worship is never used by John of mere respect for man, but always implies
